


The Safest Shores

by glaivenoct



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, mostly fluff i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-26 15:58:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19009066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glaivenoct/pseuds/glaivenoct
Summary: Noctis has many things to love about growing up at Cape Caem. One of those things is his closest friend.





	The Safest Shores

Noctis waits in Cape Caem’s harbor.

He waits seated at the edge of his father’s beloved vessel, small legs dangling off the edge of it, feet kicking leisurely in the calm waters. He waits with a trusty sketch pad in his lap, scribbling diligently and pushing up his father’s black nautical hat - which is still far too big for his eight year old head - for what feels to be the umpteenth time. He waits anxiously, biting his lower lip every time he looks over his shoulder and sees the sky beginning to glitter as it grows darker beyond the quiet shelter of the cave.

He thinks it shouldn’t be much longer now. The chill of the wandering draft makes him shiver while he opts to return to his scribbles.

“Noctis, love,” the soft insisting voice of his mother comes sooner than he thought it would. “It’s getting late.” She stands on the dock, already dressed down in her favorite night robe, dark hair pulled into a long, loose tail. The way she crosses her arms and gives him her signature expectant look tells Noctis it’s time for bed, but he’s not ready for it just yet.

“Ten more minutes, Mom?” He kicks his little feet in the water impatiently, as if it would somehow will whom he was waiting for to show up quicker. “ _Please_? I’m almost done.”

She holds firm eye contact with him, and Noctis knows she’s debating whether she should indulge him or not, so he pouts for extra effect. She’ll catch on to everything he’s pleading in the pout alone. He’s sure of it. He hasn’t seen his favorite fish all day! He at least needs to say goodnight.

“Ten minutes. Your father will check your bed in fifteen.”

Noctis smiles wide eyed and bright. “Thanks, Mom!”

“ _Goodnight, Nyx_.” She adds knowingly over her shoulder and saunters back into the tent.

“Nyx?” Noctis gasps and peers over his sketch pad to search the water for signs of ripples, the translucent shimmer of midnight-blue scales passing beneath his feet, the tickle of a soft tail-fin past his ankles.

He’s prepared to turn right back to his mother and pout again when he finds none of those things. Shout out about how _that’s not funny_! Getting his hopes up like that. Rude.

But then Nyx surfaces before him like some mad human racing for oxygen amid a vicious current, shaking the water from his hair. Noctis gasps again, jumping and hugging his sketch pad to his chest to protect it from the barrage of water droplets. He takes a few hits, scrunches his nose at the ones that land on his face.

“ _How did you_ -” Nyx looks towards the dock only to find Noctis’ mother is already heading up the stairs, a soft chuckle trailing behind her that has his pointed ears twitching. “Goodnight!” he sighs, now focusing on catching his breath like he just swam a marathon. Noct’s muffled snicker pulls him out of his thoughts. He turns to him and grins, drifting closer to settle his arms on Noct’s knees. “Hey, little one.”

“Where did you come from?!” Noctis asks with a stunned but pleased smile.

“Snuck under the boat.” Nyx says proudly, though he frowns a second later. “You sure your mom’s not one of us? Swear she always hears me from a mile away.”

“Mom’s just Mom. She knows everything.”

“Then she knows I don’t mean to keep you long. Sorry, little one. I would’ve come by sooner, but I was near Galdin most of the day.”

“And Selena?”

“Selena too. She wanted me to tell you hi for her. _Oh_ , and to give you this.” Nyx turns his wrist from where it rests on Noct’s knee and opens his palm, revealing a small, shiny scallop shell. “She wanted you to have it for your collection.”

Noctis pushes his hat up to better see the shell once he plucks it from Nyx’s palm. His face lights up as he examines the deep, indigo purple it’s speckled with, lips pursing in interest when he runs a finger along the black ridges.

“ _Whoa_. I’ve never had a purple one before. It kind of looks like her tail!”

Nyx chuckles. “That’s probably why she picked it.”

“I love it.” He clutches the shell protectively in his palm and holds it close to his chest, where his sketch pad is still protectively settled. “Tell her I said thank you?”

“You can tell her tomorrow. We were thinking of coming to hang out to make up for today. What do you say?”

“I say…” Noctis hides his little grin behind his sketch pad, “you’re forgiven for ditching me today.”

Nyx snorts at that and clutches Noct’s ankles, pretending like he’s ready to tug him right off the edge of the boat. He lets his dark tail flap behind him, threatening to splash him without mercy. Noctis hides further behind his sketch pad with a giggle and starts to pull away from him.

“You’re funny, little one.” Nyx releases his ankles and smiles up at him. “Come on, tell me about your day. How was it?”

Though Noctis thinks there isn’t much to tell, he babbles on to Nyx anyway, and like always, Nyx gives him his full attention. He nods along and asks all kinds of questions about the smallest mundane things Noct’s sure no one else would. He does that indescribable _Nyx thing_ where he makes everything seem more interesting than Noct thinks it is. Makes _Noct_ feel more interesting and heard.

Makes Noct feel like he has a friend.

Sometimes Noctis thought growing up along the vast shores of Cape Caem could be lonely. He’s never actually told anyone that, though. He thinks his parents know to some extent that he struggles to make friends at school and tends to keep to himself. He sooner bonded with the local stray cat than any of his classmates. He has other friends, though. Sort of…

There’s Luna, whom he still writes to, and her older brother Ravus from that time his family spent in Tenebrae. There’s Cindy, whom he’s happy to see every so often when he travels with his father up to Hammerhead. That was enough, wasn’t it?

Noctis doesn’t think much of it most of the time. Why should he?  He has a good life and is happy. He has his parents, and Cor whenever he visits. He never tires of that brisk scent of the sea, watching the chilly, open waters lap at the rocky shores as he explores and plays make-believe. Never finds anything dull about helping his mother tend to her gardens (even the vegetable one, he supposes), or listening to his father teach him fish migration patterns while he helps maintain the boat. Never dares to skip out on a trip to Altissia when his father’s got crates of food and goods to trade.

Never would give up nights at the top of the lighthouse for anything; bundled in a flannel blanket, squished between his parents and watching the stars while they narrate some of their greatest adventures to him.

Noctis has every reason to be happy, and a lot of the time he is, but sometimes there’s a shadow that creeps over him. A particular loneliness. An understanding that he has friends, but a silent yearn pestering in his chest because it doesn’t quite _feel_ like he has friends. Not the way the other kids at school seem to have friends. He tries not to dwell on it all for too long for the sake of his parents. They don’t need to worry about him more than already do. It’s nothing he can’t bounce back from anyway, but it’s something he hopes can stay away for good one day.

Nyx keeps it away without really trying. Credit it to the unending kindness in the soft blue of his eyes, the warmth in his hands despite being a creature of the sea, the way he smiles up at Noctis or talks so smoothly… Noctis isn’t sure himself what it is. All he knows is that Nyx makes him happy, and that he might very well be his best friend.

“What about this?” Nyx taps the sketch pad that’s still nestled close to his chest. “Working on something new?”

Noctis blushes at the question, shoulders bunching up in hopes to hide his reddening ears, toes curling in the water as he sways his legs forward and hugs his work protectively. It’s not like Nyx hasn’t seen his drawings before. Noctis shows him and Selena all the time, but this drawing is different and special. To him, at least. What if it made Nyx think he was weird? Like he’s sure some of the kids at school think he’s weird.

“Um, yeah. I’m, um… I’m not done, but almost.”

“Can I see it?” He asks it so kindly that Noctis has to bite in his lip in indecision. He keeps it close as he opens it up to the correct page to peek at the drawing.

Nyx would never make fun of him. Nyx always encourages him.

So he nods and fishes for the small dish towel he always brings out of habit. Nyx happily takes it to dry his hands, then takes the pad carefully when Noctis offers it. He holds it with all the care and admiration one might have with a delicate treasure washed up from the depths of the Cygillian. As if Noct’s amateur sketches held some kind of powers the gods might strike Nyx down for should he leave a single tear or crinkle at the edges of the page.

He doesn’t have to study the picture for long before his lips part into a surprised little ‘o’. The creature’s brows rise in unison and Noctis can’t decide if the reaction is good or bad. Nor can he tell if the huff leaving Nyx’s lips is amazement or repulsion. Instead, Noctis decides it’s safer to duck his head and let his hair and father’s cap hide him so he could stare into his own lap.

“Wow. You’re starting to put more detail into these things, aren’t you?”

“I wanted this one to be perfect…” he says quietly while he picks at the hem of his shirt. He spent hours down by the fishing dock for a better visual. He wanted to get as many details as possible. The cliffside, the tidepools, the birds and the lighthouse.

Even so, they weren’t as important as the main subject at the center of the page that Noctis drew as best from memory as possible.

“Is this me, little one?”

Noctis looks up from his lap and is met with curious eyes and a thoughtful smile. Nyx has the sketch pad flipped around so it can be seen properly and points to the creature depicted there. Noctis drew it like he was watching the creature from afar, back to him as it lounged happily against the fishing dock, a dark shaded tail springing up from the surface, distinct braids drawn into the hair that was so often tied back. It wasn’t turning out exactly how he pictured in his head, but he’s still pleased with it.

Noctis nods to the question. “I- I wanted to draw something important to me, so, um, I think I’ll draw Selena next too since, um, you know… since you guys saved my life.”

Nyx blinks at him like an anak caught in the headlights, and Noctis immediately wonders if he said something wrong. Nyx pulls the picture close to him again and stares at it like he’s waiting for it to explain something to him. Noct can only guess it’s the word important because, really, they haven’t known each other for that long. Somehow, Nyx always made it feel as if they’d known each other for ages. Maybe that was it. Maybe that’s only how Noctis felt. Maybe Nyx was seeing right through him to the core of a pitiful, lonely shadow, and questioning befriending him in the first place.

That’s _not_ the Nyx he’s seen almost every day in the past few months, though. There’s only ever been safety and kindness in Nyx’s friendship. Even from the moment they met. That very moment Nyx snatched him away from the horrific grasp of a group of sahagins and hauled him back to shore. The moments Nyx eased his shaking and tears while Selena fended off the rest, then came to tend to his injuries with glowing hands.

They saved his life and became his friends. They were the only reasons he wasn’t afraid to keep returning to the sloshing shores and dip his feet in. The only reason he didn’t lose his fascination with the sea.

It made sense that Nyx and Selena were more important than Noctis could properly translate onto the blank pages of his sketch pad, right? He hopes that Nyx can read between the lines. He’s always been good at that, good at seeing the things Noctis can’t figure out how to say. Maybe between every stroke and smudge of graphite, the faded remnants of erased mistakes, Nyx can understand the thanks Noctis meant to pack into the word “important”.

“Important, huh?” Nyx isn’t frowning or smiling. Noctis sits up straighter and chooses to be brave in his next question.

“Friends are important, aren’t they?”

To his heart’s relief, Nyx’s smile curves so far into his cheek that Noctis can see a dimple. “Very important. I’m honored, little one.” He looks up at him and sets the sketch pad gently back into Noct’s lap. “To be your subject and your friend. But as your friend, you have to promise that you’ll show me this little masterpiece of yours when it’s all done, okay?”

Just like that, Noctis knows his worries were for nothing. He bursts into a huge grin, a soft giggle following. “Okay! I promise.”

“Good.” Nyx squeezes his knee. “I’m glad I got to see you today even if it was for a little bit.”

“ _Promise_ you’ll both come by tomorrow?”

“Promise.” Nyx raises a pinky for Noct to link with his own, giving the small finger a squeeze. “Now off to bed before your mom comes down here with the net!”

That has Noct giggling again as he pulls his feet from the water. “She wouldn’t do that! She loves you.”

“Yeah, she loves giving me a hard time. I’m still convinced she’s one of us. She’s got the heightened senses for it, I’m telling you.”

“You’re silly,” Noctis says as he gathers his things and stands. The way Nyx sticks his tongue out and crosses his eyes to emphasize it has him laughing again.

“Good night, Noct.”

“Good night, Nyx.”

Though he doesn’t want to, Noctis turns hesitantly and hops from the boat to the dock. Nyx watches the whole time, waiting for him to be fully out of sight like he and Selena always do. (A habit they developed after the sahagin attack, any time Noctis didn’t have his parents to walk back with him to the cottage, especially down by the fishing dock and tidepools.) Noct has his new shell in the palm of his hand still. He clutches it a little tighter and pauses before he steps inside the tent.

There’s still one thing niggling in the back of his mind. A question he’s always asked himself and made his own hopes and promises to, but they didn’t really matter. Not unless he heard an answer from Nyx himself.

“Nyx?” he turns back around, sketch pad hugged close, shuffling his bare feet shyly on the floor beneath him. He pushes his hat up one more time

“Yeah?”

“We’ll always be friends, right?”

The pause this time doesn’t worry Noct like before, because he can see the touched smile in Nyx’s ocean eyes before it reaches his lips. It’s a slow, confident smile that sparks comfort in Noct all over again.

“Always, little one. Don’t you ever doubt that.”

Noctis doesn’t. Not as his father tucks him in and leaves a good night kiss at the top of his head. Not when a certain shadow tries to convince him he doesn’t have friends. Not the day he thinks he’s finally on the road to making new ones. Not years down the line as he grows and protests the nickname “little one”, because he’s, indeed, not little anymore.

But as Noctis grows, Nyx does too. No matter how much they grow or how much Noct pouts and insists otherwise, he’ll always be Nyx’s little one. And Nyx will always be Noct’s favorite fish.

**Author's Note:**

> I made it with 3 days left in MerMay to spare, friends, I didn't think it would happen.
> 
> I might have more for this if anyone's interested? I didn't mean to shed too much on the "lonely" bit but oop, here we are. now I have to fix it and give Noct more friends. With the help of his favorite fish of course. relationship's subject to change if I get into when Noct's older because *finger guns* I was going to do that in the first place. baby Noct called to me instead.
> 
> Consider leaving your thoughts if you enjoyed this? I'd love to hear them <3  
> Also on [tumblr](https://glaivenoct.tumblr.com/post/185214913134/the-safest-shores)


End file.
